| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 71.36 |
| Liaison | Michael Chapman |
| Submission Date | Sept. 20, 2023 |
Nova Scotia Community College
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Kirk
Herman Environmental Engineer Facilities and Engineering |
Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:
The cultural assessment questions were developed by NSCC's sustainability department in collaboration with our Institutional Research Analysts. The questions are intended both to focus on the values of our stakeholders, as well as gauge willingness to participate in sustainable development on Campus and awareness of NSCC's various sustainability initiatives.
A copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture:
A sample of the questions related to sustainability culture or the website URL where the assessment tool is available:
1. How important is it to you that NSCC demonstrates leadership in on-campus
sustainability?
2.How often do you wonder about the impacts of climate change and how they might
impact you?
Using the scale provided (Strongly Agree, Somewhat Agree, Neither Agree Nor Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Strongly Disagree), please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:
3. NSCC has a responsibility to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to minimize the effects of climate change.
4. NSCC provides opportunities on Campus for you to be engaged with sustainability.
5. NSCC is good at communicating College sustainability initiatives.
6. Environmental/sustainability-related issues affect my daily life and habits.
7. I understand how I can contribute to on-campus sustainability at NSCC.
8. Sustainability matters to me.
9. How willing are you to participate in sustainability activities on campus? (Very willing, somewhat willing, not willing)
10. Are you aware of any of the following sustainable infrastructure initiatives NSCC currently participates in? Check any that you have heard of: (BOMA BEST, LEED, STARS)
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The cultural assessment was emailed directly to all NSCC staff and students in the 2022/2023 academic year via their NSCC email address. Incoming students also received an invitation to participate in the survey via their personal email address in case the were not yet familiar with NSCC's email login. Students received the first iteration of the survey in September 2022, with the initial staff following in January 2022. Students will be re-surveyed at the end of their academic program (2023/24) to measure the impact of NSCC on sustainability culture. Many programs at NSCC are 1-2 years in length, so the surveying program will be an ongoing program to ensure we continually capture data for new students on a regular basis. The staff assessment will be done on a 2-3 year basis to measure the impact of embedding sustainability in NSCC's workplace culture on a longer timescale.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Staff Culture Survey
-95% of staff feel that NSCC take on a leadership role in sustainability in Nova Scotia.
-80% of staff agree that NSCC successfully creates opportunities to engage in sustainability on campus.
-Staff identified climate action, waste management and education of sustainability to be areas of sustainability that were important to them. 46% of staff felt the NSCC performs strongest in waste management over other areas of sustainability.
These results closely reflect NSCC’s 2019 survey, which found the average rating for importance of sustainability leadership to be 4.65/5 and rating for staff agreement of opportunities to engage with sustainability was 4.06/5. In 2019, staff ranked the most important areas as sustainability as waste management, energy and climate change and education of sustainability and identifies NSCC to be strongest in areas of waste management.
In both surveys staff were asked if they were willing to make small changes in their work to support sustainability, in 2019 98% of staff said yes and in 2022 99% of staff said yes.
Students Culture Survey
In the student survey, 79% of students felt that sustainability issues affected their daily life.
-38% of students considered their chosen program in relation to sustainability when applying.
-80% of students agreed that it was important to them that NSCC demonstrate sustainability on-campus, while 78% thought that NSCC takes a leadership role for sustainability in Nova Scotia.
-91% of students were willing or somewhat willing to participate in sustainability activities on campus.
These results will be compared to the longitudinal survey that will be completed in 2024.
Website URL where information about the assessment of sustainability culture is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.